This is the first post I write on this forum and I therefore want to start out by saying that I have been an extremely satisfied subscriber of PianoGroove!
I love the ongoing discussions, the widespread and structured material, and the continuous improvement attitude adopted by both PianoGroove as well as its community.
Having played the piano for some 10 odd years growing up, and completely abandoning it for many years, Pianogroove has really been my gateway back into playing the piano (especially since my love for Jazz, Blues, and Funk has grown massively over the years, and having always been schooled as a classical pianist).
The relatively recent addition of New Orleans themed material was a very promising sign to me in terms of the diversity in genres on this platform.
Something I have been looking for for a long time is a dedicated track for Electric Piano Funk/Jazz Grooves á la Philly. The best way to describe it accurately (perhaps due to my lack of knowledge on the specific schools/streams of Funk/Jazz would be the style of the title “Love is the Message” by MFSB:
I believe a lot of the material and theory already covered on this platform can contribute to mastering this overall playing style, however the sound itself does have its own unique feel and characteristics which would be amazing to have treated in a separate course.
I was interested to see if I am alone in this desire, and if not if there would be support for addition of content like this
Excuse the long post, always difficult to describe the sensation of certain music styles in words!
With your interest in Funk I’d recommend checking out Jon’s “Intro To Funk” lesson here:
We will be further expanding our Funk tutorials later this year with more courses and teachers.
To play funk, it’s important to understand jazz principles such as extended chords and altered harmony. You can find courses on these topics in the Jazz section of the site.
If you have any suggestions for Funk musicians to bring onboard our teaching team, do let me know and I will reach out to them.
I had indeed taken this course and as mentioned, was very happy with its addition.
Thank you for the referral to the specific jazz elements relevant for funk piano, as it seems easy to get a bit lost in finding the exact topics that would improve this specific style of play sometimes.
In terms of a teacher, I would not necessarily know someone on the top of my head, as most teachers run their own platforms and I am not sure to what extent they would be open to a collaboration (I’d love to think they would!).
Willie Myette is an example of this, as he has his own learning platform and has brought out some really good content on this specific style of play.
Thanks again for taking the time to respond, and look forward to the funky stuff coming our way in the future on here !
